One day, the Lums focused themselves into thought, and their consciousness brought to life a strange and marvellous creature, Polokus. His power is such that his smallest dream or desire becomes reality.

Contents

Appearance

In Rayman 2, he appears as a pale, squat, somewhat amphibious creature with long, spindly arms and very short legs. He stands atop a stone column designed as a receptacle for the Four Masks of Polokus, and wears a pair of blue-green trousers with a golden buckle and a magician's hat identical to Jano's. This may be Polokus's true form.

In Rayman Origins, Polokus is known as the Bubble Dreamer. He no longer wears his trousers, has a long ginger beard, similar to those of the Fakirs, and wears a pair of sunglasses that only reveals his white pupils. He has a bubble-blowing pipe, which he uses to convert his dreams to reality. At one point in the development of Rayman Origins, the Bubble Dreamer was intended to appear in various forms throughout the game, such as a tree and a rock, with only the bubble pipe providing visual continuity between his avatars. However, this idea was ultimately dropped for reasons unknown; instead the Bubble Dreamer stays in the Snoring Tree for the entire game, and never changes his form. In the final game, it is not clear whether the Bubble Dreamer has shape-shifting abilities at all. His appearance in Rayman Origins lacks some of the defining characteristics of his appearance in Rayman 2, such as the elongated arms, the short legs, the top hat, and the blue trousers with the golden belt buckle. However, a close examination reveals a general similarity between the two; in both forms, he is a pale, fat, amphibous creature, and the removal of his previous clothing in favour of a beard and umbrella can be dismissed as no more than a cosmetic change.

Biography

Polokus himself was created by the Lums, primordial beings of pure energy, though it is never specified which type of Lums created him. Polokus's power was such that his smallest dream or desire became reality. He is considered a god, but his connection with other deities such as the Leptys is largely unknown.

Polokus created the Glade of Dreams, then decided to use his powers to bring people to his world. First, he created the fairies, who are his emissaries. The fairies were the creators of a fifth type of Lum, the Silver Lums; these are what give Rayman his powers. Next, Polokus created the Teensies, whose purpose is to unveil all the secret passages of the world. The Teensies constructed the Hall of Doors, a magic place where all paths eventually come together. Next, he created simpler creatures, beginning with Clark the Giant, whose strength Polokus used to help carve the landscape. Next, Polokus created Globox and his family, drawing upon his sense of humour for inspiration. Polokus then created a multitude of fantastic creatures, such as Murfy and Eig.

The place where Polokus is in deep slumber.

According to legend, Polokus once had a wife – the Muse of the poets. The children they had together were the Teensies. This beautiful woman was ashamed of her bizarre offspring, so she fled and hid herself in the forest, to Polokus's great regret.[2]

Having created all the creatures of the world, one task remained: creating time. In order to do this, Polokus went into a deep sleep to have a meeting with all the other gods of all the other worlds so that they could dream up the future together, a task which Polokus was unable to perform himself. Before doing this, Polokus created four masks that, when reunited, would awaken Polokus in case there was trouble. To avoid anyone waking him needlessly, he hid them in four Sanctuaries and placed Guardians there to protect them, each one with a weakness. This was done in such a way that only one being could get these masks: Rayman. Before going to sleep, Polokus explained this situation to the fairies, that they might aid Rayman when the time came to awaken him.

He is the spirit of the world, the creator of all that is and will be... His power is such that his dreams can become reality... Long, long ago he left this world, and only by reuniting the four magical masks can he be brought back...

It is when Razorbeard and his Robo-Pirate army attack in Rayman 2 that Rayman must collect the four masks. After every time Rayman collects a mask, he meets Polokus in his dreams. Polokus takes the mask and urges Rayman to find the rest. After Rayman finds them all, Polokus explains that Rayman will have to fight Razorbeard on the Buccaneer, because on the earth, Polokus is unbeatable but when in the air, he is as vulnerable as a newborn. Then he gives Rayman maximum energy and teleports him to the Prison Ship. Polokus then eliminates all the Robo-Pirates infesting the planet. At the end of Rayman 2, Polokus joins the other characters at Rayman's funeral, looking very sad. Then Rayman arrives, alive and well, and everyone, including Polokus, celebrates.

The creator of the dream world and all who live in it. Bubble Dreamer is the Supreme Being who dreams the world and all of its marvelous creatures into existence with His every sleep. He is a sensitive being; an artist (and unabashed hedonist) who is emotionally attached to his creations. His feelings have a direct effect on the world, and even one bad dream can unsettle its fragile balance! The magic people believe Bubble Dreamer keeps to His sacred resting grounds. But we know better: this fun­loving, super­being can’t resist living among his creations to laugh, play, and overindulge… and His creatures are much like him.

Polokus does not appear in Rayman 3, and his absence is not explained but it is possible that after Rayman 2 he went back to sleep. His next appearance is in Rayman Origins, where he is now known as the Bubble Dreamer. He has become a relaxed, jolly, whimsical being with a more childish attitude, and now dwells among his people. It seems that his more easy-going personality has filtered down to his creations, who are now much sillier and more carefree than they were in the earlier games. His appearance has changed: while still a fat, pale, amphibious creature, he no longer wears clothes, and he now has a long orange beard. He has become good friends with Rayman, Globox, the Teensies and other characters. A magical instrument he uses to bring his dreams to life is seen for the first time: a wooden bubble-blowing pipe. Bubbles are introduced as a major motif which recurs throughout the game. It is revealed that the Electoons are the stuff of Polokus's dreams and the substance of his world.

One day, the Bubble Dreamer and his creations are sleeping at the Snoring Tree, their sound of their snoring annoys an irritable Granny who dwells deep in the subterranean Land of the Livid Dead. She sends an army of Darktoons, Psychlops and other nighmare creatures to invade the Glade of Dreams and put a stop to the heroes' snoring. The creatures capture Rayman and his friends, imprisoning them in cages. Rayman soon escapes and pulls the Bubble Dreamer's beard, causing him to destroy his cage and free himself. Murfy appears, telling the heroes that in order to restore the Bubble Dreamer's memories (to make more playable characters appear), they should collect Electoons. The Bubble Dreamer spends the rest of the game levitating inside the Snoring Tree, sometimes acting crazy, pulling on his left eye, clucking like a chicken and detaching his head. Characters can pull on his beard to make him laugh and cause him to give a brief, whimsical description of the player's current character.

The Bubble Dreamer appears in Rayman Legends in a similar supporting role as he had in Rayman Origins. The first cutscene features him discussing with Murfy of the current state of the Glade of Dreams, noting how the nightmares have multiplied, and the 100 year nap that Rayman and friends have fallen under. To this end, he commands Murfy to awaken them, and set in motion the events experienced in the game.

The Bubble Dreamer resides in the Main Gallery throughout the rest of the game, usually sleeping unless the player jumps in front of him, which will cause him to give out information to the heroes, be that the location of missing Teensies, or monitoring of the Online Challenges.

Trivia

According to unused dialogue found in the files of Rayman Origins, the Magician secretly despises the Bubble Dreamer for his silliness and decadence, and because he usually fails to protect his innocent creations from his nightmarish ones. The Magician constructs an army of robots with which he hopes to overthrow the Bubble Dreamer and take control of the Glade of Dreams, but he is thwarted by Rayman, Globox and the Teensies.

During the development of Rayman Origins, one of the known concept arts showed up the Bubble Dreamer smoking in a hookah, while the blowpipe made it to the final version. The hookah from the concept art was later used in the final version of Rayman Legends.

References

↑Jeux Vidéo, Exclusif Rayman Origins, Gabrielle Shrager: "But also understand who is the creator of this world of dreams, the famous Bubble Dreamer, encountered in Rayman 2 under the name of Polokus"(French: "Mais aussi comprendre qui est le créateur de ce monde de revés, le fameux Bubble Dreamer, recontré dans Rayman 2 sous le nom de Polokus")File:Jeux video page 47.jpg